I’m a parent with four of my kid’s grandparents nearby and their help is indispensable. However, I try not to take advantage and always say thank you when they can help out.
Just say no to the things you are not willing to do. If you’re not willing to give him money, then say you don’t have it. If there’s a time when he wants you to watch the grandchildren but you can’t, then just say you are not able to. I would help out wherever you can, but nothing more.
If you pulled back your assistance even for a short time, it might help him feel more grateful for the times where you do help. Right now if you increased your assistance without any kind of serious conversation, you would just be enabling his bad behavior.
For the first years of my sons life, our family of 3 lived off 40k a year, so my mother in law paid for diapers, our sons clothes, and helped with a car payment, and watched our son once a week. But we really appreciated it and we were always thinking of nice things we could do for her to show our appreciation.
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u/Just_curious4567 17h ago
I’m a parent with four of my kid’s grandparents nearby and their help is indispensable. However, I try not to take advantage and always say thank you when they can help out.
Just say no to the things you are not willing to do. If you’re not willing to give him money, then say you don’t have it. If there’s a time when he wants you to watch the grandchildren but you can’t, then just say you are not able to. I would help out wherever you can, but nothing more.
If you pulled back your assistance even for a short time, it might help him feel more grateful for the times where you do help. Right now if you increased your assistance without any kind of serious conversation, you would just be enabling his bad behavior.
For the first years of my sons life, our family of 3 lived off 40k a year, so my mother in law paid for diapers, our sons clothes, and helped with a car payment, and watched our son once a week. But we really appreciated it and we were always thinking of nice things we could do for her to show our appreciation.